The past week: Scored 23 points in a 58-42 victory against Baldwin Tuesday, and had 19 in a 41-33 victory against Mt. Lebanon Friday.

Check this out: Murphy, a 6-foot, 205-pound point guard, has been a driving force in helping turn around Canon-McMillan's program. The Big Macs (14-6) have clinched a WPIAL playoff berth for the first time since 1996. Murphy has been a starter since his freshman year and is closing in on 1,000 points.

What has been the reason for this team's turnaround? We all like each other and have each other's backs. We're pretty close and we're always playing for each other. We have a lot of team depth this year, too.

You've played point guard, shooting guard and power forward in your career. What do you like best? Point guard because the ball is always in my hands.

Do you have a study hall at school, and if so, what do you do in it? I have one, but I work in the athletic office during it. I just do a lot of little jobs.

What do you do after school on game days? Go to my friend's house [Andre Hayden] and play "Call of Duty" on Xbox 360.

People might be surprised to know that you ... I like to sing R&B songs.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Being an athletic director at a high school somewhere.

-- By Mike White

Last week: A 15-year-old freshman, the 5-foot-8 guard scored 14, 22 and 16 points in her past three games to lift her points per game average to 19.7.

Check this out: Born in Bosnia, Nurkic moved with her parents -- father Rifet and mother Enisa -- to Baldwin when she was in first grade.

"At first, it was really tough," she said. "I didn't know English and it was tough to have to learn that and get adjusted to everything, but I worked hard to learn the new language."

How did you get started playing basketball? I was in second grade and I wanted to start playing. At the time, I was playing the violin and didn't really like it. So I said to my mom, 'I am going to give basketball a try' and I have been playing ever since.

Did you think you would have this much success as a freshman? No, and I was nervous about it. I didn't know if the older girls on the team would accept me at first because I was just this freshman. But they have been great and we have gotten closer and closer as the year has gone on.

Not growing up here, do your parents understand basketball much? They understand a lot of it. But, I think what they understand the most is the hard work that everyone has to put into it and the teamwork.

Has basketball become your identity? That is a good question, because I know that some people know me because of basketball, but I don't want people to just know me because of sports. I want them to know me for being who I am as a person first, then maybe as a basketball player.

-- By Colin Dunlap